As a faint fragrance wafted over, Ning Fa turned around with a sense of premonition.
Upon seeing her, his expression immediately trembled, and surprise filled his eyes.
A woman in a white dress was gracefully approaching.
She was like an immortal descending into the mortal world from a painting.
Her shoulders seemed carved, her waist as if bound with silk, possessing skin like jade and bones like ice, with eyebrows like the new moon and eyes like stars.
Her eyes shone like stars, and as they darted about, they sparkled brilliantly.
She could truly be described as heavenly beautiful, capable of toppling nations.
Even Ning Fa, an old hand at seeing beautiful women, was momentarily stunned.
He thought to himself, No wonder Wei Shiqin said her friend was the most beautiful woman on Thousand Wave Lake.
Now that he saw her in person, her reputation was indeed well-deserved.
In terms of beauty, she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen in his past or present life.
Even beauties like Wei Shiqin and Liu Qinghui were half a step behind her.
The beautiful woman in the white dress, her starry eyes shifting, glanced at Wei Shiqin and Ning Fa, her gaze like autumn water.
A faint smile touched her cherry lips, and with a voice as pleasant as flowing spring water, she said, "Shiqin, is this young master the one who wants my [Clear Spirit Illusion Bamboo Formation]?"
At this moment, Ning Fa had regained his composure.
He stood up to greet her, saying, "Indeed, it is I, Ning, who desires this formation. I invite you to be seated so we may discuss it further."
Wei Shiqin, standing nearby, looked at Ning Fa with a hint of surprise.
Ning Fa's reaction to her incredibly beautiful friend was so ordinary… it was truly beyond her expectations.
Even she, a woman, found it difficult to conceal her astonishment when looking at her friend.
She didn't believe Ning Fa was deliberately playing hard to get.
She had that much judgment.
Wei Shiqin's evaluation of Ning Fa couldn't help but rise a notch.
In fact, Ning Fa didn't have many strong reactions.
In his past life, he had already indulged in many romances. Now, in this immortal cultivation world, his greatest desire was to improve his cultivation realm.
Ultimately, to achieve longevity and live as long as the sun and moon.
Beautiful women were merely a form of amusement to him, not something indispensable.
He despised simps the most.
The woman in the white dress smiled faintly, a blush like that of peach blossoms appearing on her fair, jade-like cheeks.
It made her beauty even more stunning, her smile like a blooming flower.
She then gracefully took a seat, going with the flow.
Wei Shiqin chuckled and said, "Ruoqi, let me introduce you."
"This is Young Master Ning Fa, from the Ning Family. He is currently a newly promoted First-grade Mid-rank Pill Master of the Ning Family."
The beautiful woman in the white dress couldn't help but raise her delicate eyebrows, looking at Ning Fa with a hint of surprise.
She was clearly familiar with the Ning Family.
Then, Wei Shiqin pointed to her and introduced, "Young Master Ning, my friend's name is Meng Ruoqi. She is from the Meng Family of Thousand Wave Lake. Not only does Ruoqi possess superior spiritual root aptitude, but she also has high-level formation talent. She is already a First-grade High-rank Formation Master."
"Furthermore, she can even be considered a quasi-Second-grade Formation Master, otherwise, she wouldn't be able to refine a quasi-Second-grade formation like the [Clear Spirit Illusion Bamboo Formation]."
Ning Fa's heart stirred.
"The Meng Family of Thousand Wave Lake…"
He was naturally aware of this cultivation family.
Thousand Wave Lake was vast, with hundreds of cultivation families and scattered cultivator forces.
However, generally speaking, only forces with Foundation Establishment cultivators could be considered significant.
If classified by strength.
The Xue Family was undoubtedly in the first tier.
Following them were the Ning Family and the Qian Family.
But due to the Ning Family's rapid expansion in recent years, and their victory over the Qian Family a few years ago, this shift in power had widened the gap between the Ning Family and the Qian Family.
Therefore, the Ning Family could be considered the second tier, and the Qian Family the third tier.
The recently rising Calamity Cultivator organization, the Ironclad Alliance, was likely on par with the Qian Family, also belonging to the third tier.
The Meng Family and other Foundation Establishment Families would then fall into the subsequent fourth tier.
The Meng Family has two Foundation Establishment elders, over a hundred clansmen with spiritual roots, and hundreds of thousands of mortals.
They occupy about thirty spirit islands, located on the southwest side of Thousand Wave Lake.
They are several thousand miles away from the Ning Family.
Meng Ruoqi lightly shook her head, smiling faintly, "Shiqin, you flatter me."
After speaking, her bright eyes shone as she looked at Ning Fa, chuckling, "So Young Master Ning comes from the Ning Family. It's truly an honor. Since Young Master Ning fancies my daughter's formation, Shiqin must have already told you my daughter's requirements. I wonder if Young Master Ning has a flying sword magic tool with both water and fire attributes?"
Ning Fa shook his head. "I apologize, Miss Meng. The kind of magic tool you're looking for is truly too rare. I don't have one on me. I wonder if we could exchange it in other ways, perhaps with spirit stones or pills?"
Meng Ruoqi's delicate eyebrows furrowed slightly.
At this moment, Wei Shiqin's beautiful eyes darted around, and she added with a giggle, "Ruoqi, this Young Master Ning, after advancing to the Qi Condensation mid-stage in just three months, was promoted to a First-grade Mid-rank Pill Master. He is now being groomed by the Ning Family as their future chief pill master, so he holds considerable power and status within the family."
Ning Fa smiled without speaking.
He secretly praised Wei Shiqin for being so perceptive, her support coming at the perfect moment.
What she said was indeed the truth.
After defeating Ning Ruiming in the alchemy competition, he had indeed regained the family's attention.
At the family elders' meeting, he was officially listed as a seed to be cultivated as the chief pill master.
However, Ning Ruiming's status as a chief pill master seed was not revoked; he was just ranked lower.
This was mainly because the family was still worried about Ning Fa's Incomplete Lightning Spiritual Root, which might prevent him from smoothly breaking through to the Qi Condensation late-stage.
But the elders' council had also passed a resolution to allocate more resources to help him break through to the Qi Condensation late-stage.
This resource allocation was not insignificant.
It even included rare resources like Second-grade Pills.
Ning Shaohong had told him all of this.
Ning Fa deeply felt that his decision to challenge Ning Ruiming was extremely wise, a strategy that yielded benefits on both fronts.
He heard that Ning Ruiming had not yet recovered and was still holed up at home on Yuan Chang Island, not having emerged.
After Wei Shiqin finished speaking, Meng Ruoqi's expression indeed changed.
Her gaze towards Ning Fa became different, much more serious.
If what Wei Shiqin said was true, then Ning Fa could be considered a quasi-high-ranking member of the Ning Family, holding an extraordinary position.
And the Ning Family was undoubtedly the second-largest power in Thousand Wave Lake, far beyond what the Meng Family could hope to match.
Moreover, their strength was steadily growing, with several Foundation Establishment elders still in their prime.
And the younger generation was also producing outstanding talents.
For example, the name of the Witch Ning Huarong was famous throughout Thousand Wave Lake.
Many even regarded Ning Huarong as practically a Foundation Establishment cultivator.
The Ning Family today could be said to be at the peak of its power.
The Meng Family had even discussed that if the Ning Family were given more time to develop, they might even be able to compete with the Xue Family for the position of the foremost family in Thousand Wave Lake.
Therefore, Ning Fa's identity and status were even more extraordinary.
Wei Shiqin was undoubtedly reminding her of this point.
Thinking of this, Meng Ruoqi couldn't help but think of her own family, the Meng Family.
Recalling a major event that had recently occurred within the family, her bright eyes dimmed, and a trace of sadness appeared between her brows.
Ning Fa, with his meticulous perception, sensed Meng Ruoqi's change in expression and felt a bit puzzled.
At this moment, Meng Ruoqi returned to normal.
She smiled faintly, "Since that is the case, my daughter will not insist on her previous request. Young Master Ning can take this [Clear Spirit Illusion Bamboo Formation] by paying some spirit stones."